Local, LAN control

Gianluca Barbaro

Last week I lost control over my house, for 12 hours, because something went wrong with iTead systems.

Sonoff devices device works flawlessly per se, and I'm very happy to have 13 of them around my house.

But...

I'm beginning to think there's a glitch in their marketing model. I haven't thought for a moment that they want to spy on us, like some else implied in this forum, but every serious usage require redundancy and backup.

We cannot rely on the whole "cloud" model to be always working: too many things can go wrong on the user side, on itead side and, eventually, on the side of the many third party service providers involved (ISPs and Cloud providers above all).

Every digital and/or networking system might stop working every now and then. While we can surely afford not to remotely switch on a light, what about water heating, house heating, door opening, surveillance systems?

I did my best to build redundancy in my installations, but there are two factors that are not easily overcame.

First, some sonoff device might be (and in my case are) difficult to be physically reached: inside walls or up near the ceiling, the onboard switch is almost useless in these cases.

Second, Dual sonoff aren't capable of manually switching the connected devices on/off: if the system isn't working (i.e. they are offline), the only possible solution is to uninstall them, which is not acceptable at all.

iTead (and coolkit) seem to be trying to sell their solution to third parties (other manufacturers who are supposed to relay onto their whole solution, cloud included) which is cool. If I had to, I would guess that's why they are so "cloud-centered": to offer a easy and rapid solution, all included. It's cool.

But other than toyish usages, without redundancy their solution is unimplementable: I hope they realize this soon (if they haven't already).

The solution that comes to mind is very simple, and a few have already suggested it here: a dual control system. The cloud is great for remote control, but when the app is on the same local network the sonoff devices are, everything should switch to local. Simply put: automatic switching to LAN control.

If I'm home, I should be able to control my devices even if my Internet connection is down.

If they could do this with an open protocol, that would be top. But after all, not everyone of us wants to build his/her own system: I'm cool with their app, they can keep their protocol reserved as much as they want. To me, the only thing that matters is that I don't ever lose control over my house again.

Other than the above, thank you iTead, I'm very happy with your products!

David Vinch

said
over 1 year ago

Today one of my devices refused to function, variously giving me the message that it is offline and then working and then a message "control by lan" came up. Has anyone else experienced this message? Any clues? I've been experimenting with these devices and I do think they are a good bang for the buck but I am leaning towards trying to re-flashing them to work with Blynk to get away from the itead.https://github.com/tzapu/SonoffBoilerplateNot mine, I'm just looking at it and wondering.

Tuicemen

said
over 1 year ago

I've already explained the "controlled by Lan" message.

Since users have been asking for this or simular for over a year and itead has yet to get it right I'd recommend flashing your device as I've done for modules that I absolutely needed local control.

If your in no hurry for local control then hold off on flashing.

There are several firmwares for these posted on the net, one may suit your requirements.

1 person likes this

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mICHael wERNER

said
about 1 year ago

it's a shame!
and
they know it!
I'm not the only one telling them that the system & and app have to.work in LAN only, without the need of WAN, cloud, etc.
a shame, because THIS worked from the beginning on other smarthome platforms like KanKun, Broadlink, etc.
I think I had SOME sonoff components working LAN only one evening, but was gone the other day...
well, I guess they won't invest much more in software development, as the sonoff platform in between has so many alternative system development from the online community, not depending on THEIR (external and paid) cloud services any more, so we can only hope they'll proceed selling proper hardware.

B

Bill Michaelson

said
about 1 year ago

It is incomprehensible to me that it cannot function in local-only mode from the start. I bought three of these little boards to experiment with and the first one I tried seems to be operating nicely. But there is no way I will rely on it for anything if it requires Internet connectivity. Period. If there is more sensible firmware available I would like to try it, but the Github link cited above is not functional. Failing this, they will remain on the shelf. Pity, because I really like them otherwise.

1 person likes this

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mICHael wERNER

said
about 1 year ago

just search for sonoff AND tasmota, espeasy, espurna...
you have to solder (just a little)
buy some additional gear (just a few $, if direct from China)
AND to read - a lot!
the net is full

B

Bill Michaelson

said
about 1 year ago

Thanks. I found the tasmota github repo after leaving this forum and did that research, finding many interesting tangents and products. I was just a little disappointed that it was necessary. I don't have a specific, urgent application. I picked up the devices on a lark because they were cheap and I was pleased to see how conveniently I was able to make them operate. But I was more than a little miffed to see the cloud dependency. As to privacy, someone noted that it was unlikely that anyone in China would want to spy on me in order to know when I turn on the porch light, and I agree. But this misses the point. Privacy ought to be a default, and it is complacency that has led us down the road to where Google and Facebook know what many of us are thinking. Social conventions and mindsets have fallen behind the technology and the implications are profound.

Anyway, since I can't plug and play this thing, it will go back on the shelf until such time as flashing firmware has a ROI that I deem worthy.

Thanks again for the prompt reply and pointers.

1 person likes this

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mohammad hossein norouzi

said
about 1 year ago

Be patient guys i have a good news for you
New firmware and new app will be release by itead company before end of December
With biggest updates: more stability and finally: LOCAL CONTROL (LAN) mode selectable!
Do you believe it! Yes I promise you!

7 people like this

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mICHael wERNER

said
about 1 year ago

merry Christmas!
thx 4 good news
mICHael

1 person likes this

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sek dom

said
about 1 year ago

very good idea

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mICHael wERNER

said
about 1 year ago

@ mohammad hossein norouzi
so sad:
now IT IS end of December and I still have to re-establish inet connection to turn my TV on...

2 people like this

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mohammad hossein norouzi

said
about 1 year ago

@ mICHael wERNER i’m so sorry my dear friend,to be honest the R&D group of ITEAD told me that before end of December it’s ready to release but probably it needed more time to release i asked again they didn’t answer exact time but i thin it need around 20 days so be patient , i’ Sure that it will be release in finally 20 days later

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Nils Nilsson

said
about 1 year ago

In the last five days it has been offline most time, damn junk

3 people like this

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mICHael wERNER

said
about 1 year ago

you're in Europe?
also here in Austria! thank God I'm just AT the holiday apartment, usually remote controlled by sonoff
must switch heating,tv etc. manually
my hope is, that they're trying to set up the next step:
LAN¡
regards
mICHael